


Benefits

by wynnebat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cheating, F/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-02-21 04:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2455325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were benefits to being Lily's friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Benefits

"I still think this is a really bad idea," Peter said to his four friends. He'd said this many times before, in the halls of Hogwarts, in the Shrieking Shack, in their dorm room with his head hanging upside off the bed as he ignored the crazy plans Sirius once again came up with. He hadn't said it since Hogwarts, as the gang had headed toward a terrible path of maturity in the last couple of months. He was glad that the trend had halted for a moment, though he repeated the sentiment. "A really bad idea."

He'd never thought he'd say the phrase outside of Lily's childhood home, surrounded by his friends and various unaware muggles.

"Live a little, Petey," James said, and knocked on the door.

It opened, and they faced two middle-aged muggles.

"Surprise!" Lily said.

.

This wasn't a way of getting back at her sister, Lily had said before they'd left James' place. She was slightly drunk, just enough to actually talk about Petunia Evans instead of pretending she didn't exist like Petunia pretended Lily didn't exist. Dysfunctional was too light a word for their relationship.

(Though really, who was he to talk about dysfunctional relationships? He was thinking of taking up a cause far more important than friendship, far more important than James and Lily and maybe even life itself. Despite it making perfect sense to him, he knew some would call him dysfunctional for even thinking it.)

So they picked up the last full bottle of wine and group-apparated to Lily's parents' house, a place Lily hadn't visited for at least half a year now.

.

"This _is_ a surprise," Mrs. Evans said, her voice a little faint. "I remember something about not visiting us until we stopped trying to rule your life."

"I do as well," Mr. Evans added wryly. "But come in, come in."

They lead them into the living room, where there was a younger lady on the couch. She had to be Lily's sister Petunia, who Peter had heard about maybe a half dozen times before.

"Hello," she said sullenly, then left the room before they could get a word in response. She was shaping up to be everything Lily had said and more. Totally dysfunctional, Peter cheerfully thought.

"Are these your friends?" Mr. Evans asked as they sat down on the couch.

Lily nodded, and the round of introductions began.

"James Potter, we've met before, at the graduation."

"Where you showered us and the surrounding people with yellow glitter," Mrs. Evans said. "You're very hard to forget."

"I am to be," James said, pleased.

"I am Sirius Orion Black the sixth. Well, I guess I probably shouldn't be using the name Black after being disowned for being too awesome, but, well… It's my name!"

"Remus Lupin," Remus said, being the only person in the room who seemed to be embarrassed about all their actions. He was the only person in their group that was fully sober, so that probably had something to do with it. Peter was just too damn amused at it all. If meeting the folks was this much fun, he'd be happy to do it again.

"Pettigrew, Peter Patrick," he added when the attention turned to him. Sirius grinned at his attendance roll call name while Lily looked like she wanted to stab him with something pointy and sharp.

"And we're Jasper and Marianne Evans," Mrs. Evans replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nah, definitely ours," Sirius said. "I've never been in a muggle house, you know. It's very cool."

"Groovy," Peter said, nodding. He didn't really understand the word, but he'd heard it being used on Lily's telly.

By Sirius' yelp of pain, it seemed Lily did, in fact, stab someone with something sharp.

"We've heard a lot about you," Mr. Evans said. "Lily thinks of you all very highly."

"I don't remember you telling us about how you got to be friends," Mrs.

"Well, I started dating James, then after a while realized it meant dating his friends, too," Lily said with a laugh, shaking her head. "Realized it after they followed us on one of our dates."

"Hey! There was a legitimate reason for that!" Sirius seemed to have forgotten the reason.

"We'd thought James'd been possessed by a demon," Remus added.

"Of course," Mr. Evans said, looking slightly overwhelmed. "Lily, since you're back here and not ignoring our letters, does this mean you've thought about what we talked about?"

.

Five minutes later, Lily was arguing with her parents about what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, James was next to her, showing a solidarity that none of the Evanses really needed or wanted, and Sirius and Remus had probably slunk off to some corner of the house to have a not-very-discrete snog in. They were broken up right then for the millionth and second time, as far as Peter remembered, but that'd never seemed to stop them from having eyes for each other.

Peter left the couch, keenly aware that absolutely no one had noticed him leave. The worst part of being friends with the Marauders Plus One was that when everyone paired up (and they always, always did), Peter was the one left bored and alone.

He walked through the house, looking around at the various muggle things around the house. Despite the fact that Sirius' comment had been mostly the product of drunken idiocy, it really was interesting for them all to see how the other side lived. James, Sirius, and Peter were purebloods; Remus was a halfblood, but his parents had chosen to bring him up purely in wizarding culture, and he'd rarely visited his muggle relatives.

He picked up an odd metallic device that was connected to the wall, turned it over and around. It was all so odd. Peter wondered what it was for; wondered what would happen to it when the Dark Lord finally made good on his promise to eradicate all muggles.

He looked up and saw Lily's sister staring at him from the backyard. She could probably see him feeling up her things through the window, Peter realized, and quickly dropped the object. Looking back to where he came from, he picked up more sounds from the argument. It seemed that James had now joined in. They were probably talking about Lily's plans to marry. And Sirius and Remus were still missing.

Peter headed outside through the back door. He stopped a dozen wandlengths away from Petunia, who was sitting on a swing.

"Um. Hi. I'm Peter. Want some company?" he asked, trying to find some good words. He'd never been able to talk to girls. It looked like muggle girls were just as hard.

"Not really," Petunia said. "I hate witches and wizards."

"Why?" Peter asked, and sat down next to her.

She glared at him, just slightly, and said, "Because they think they're better than people who can't do magic. Like that's a good thing, being able to pull a rabbit out of a hat."

"Isn't it?" Peter asked.

"No," she replied, and glared some more.

They sat in silence for a bit, staring at the overgrown grass.

"You know, I think having a lawn like this invites gnomes or something," Peter said, poking at the grass with the bottom of his shoe.

" _What?_ " Petunia squeaked, pulling up her feet from the ground. The movement caused her to bump into Peter, and he steadied her with an arm around her shoulders. She was warm, and felt just like a regular witch. If Peter hadn't known she was a muggle, he would've tried to hit on her. He probably would've failed terribly, but he would've tried.

"Stop looking at me like that," Petunia sniffed. "I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah?" Peter said, not moving his arm. Petunia wasn't asking him to move it, either.

"He hasn't come seen me in a while," she admitted. "He's away at uni."

"How long?"

"Since he's come around? Two months, now."

He whistled. "That's a long time to not even get a snog."

"I don't need kissing to be happy."

"Does he?"

She stiffened, then leaned more into his arm. "I've heard some things. Doesn't matter. What do you care, anyway?"

"I just think that a pretty girl shouldn't spend that long without a guy. It sucks, being lonely."

She snorted. "You think I'm pretty?"

"I do," he lied.

"The magic must me messing with your brain."

"So you want to be lonely?"

"No," she admitted.

"Me neither," he said, leaning in a little closer. "Um. D'you want to…?"

She leaned in and kissed him tentatively, then harder. She didn't taste any different than a witch, Peter thought before most of his thoughts left his brain.

She leaned back to take a breath. "Are you pretending I'm Lily?"

He wasn't, but he shrugged anyway. It was a bad habit, being a bastard to people who didn't matter, but he liked it. "Does it matter?"

"It means I'll leave if you are," she said crossly.

"Have you made sure your boyfriend never meets her?" he asked as the thought struck him.

"Yes," she replied. "They always like her. I hate it."

"I don't like her," Peter said, still close enough to feel her breath on his lips. "I hate her, sometimes. Same with all the rest of them."

"Me too," Petunia said quietly. Then, "You're not going to tell her that."

It wasn't a question. It wasn't a plea. It wasn't a threat, either, because she had nothing to threaten him with. She had nothing to hurt him with. He could tell Lily exactly what her sister thought of her. But Peter said, "Yeah, I'm not." It wouldn't do anything.

He leaned in and kissed her again, and thought, _there are benefits to being friends with Lily._

There was a poor bastard at the end of the whole thing, unknowing of this. Peter knew should've been thinking of Petunia's boyfriend, whose name he doesn't even know, who may have been an innocent victim to rumors. He should've been sympathizing with him instead of kissing his girlfriend on her parents' swing. But if he took Lucius up on his offer, this wouldn't be the worst thing he'd do in his life.

Besides, Petunia's lips were soft, and she was inviting, and frankly, Peter was tired of trying to make himself care.

The back door swung open and Sirius called, "Oi, loverboy! We're leaving! Lily has won the great debate about going to college!" And then he vanished again, probably going back to the front room.

"I've got to go," Peter said needlessly, pulling away.

"You gonna say you'll call?" she asked, wiping her lips on her sleeve.

"Nah," Peter said. "Unless you want me too."

"I don't."

"Me neither. You're a muggle, anyway. We shouldn't…"

Her face became pinched. "I'm a muggle and you're a wizard and I'll never understand you lot, according to Lily. Just go, will you?"

"Yeah," Peter said, and did. Opening the porch, he called, "Thanks!"

She gave him the finger, and he continued to the front room, where everyone had clustered.

"Had a good time?" Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, shove off," Peter muttered. They said their goodbyes and continued out, disillusioning themselves as they left.

"That went well, didn't it?" Lily asked, relieved.

"It did," Peter told her, smiling, and the rest of the gang agreed.

They disapparated, and with one last look toward the backyard, Peter followed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Complete; no sequel planned.


End file.
